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Holding Wholeness (IN A CHALLENGING WORLD) An Anthology By DAVID SPANGLER (IN A CHALLENGING WORLD) (IN A CHALLENGING WORLD) An Anthology By DAVID SPANGLER HOLDING WHOLENESS (In a Challenging World) Copyright © 2019 David Spangler David Spangler has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work. All rights are reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form. Reviewers may quote brief passages. Cover Art and Book Design by Jeremy Berg Published by Lorian Press LLC Holland, Michigan ISBN: 978-1-939790-30-9 Spangler/David Holding Wholeness (In a Challenging World)/David Spangler First Edition August 2019 www.lorian.org CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ................................................................... 1 THE FIRST THREE STEPS ..................................................... 4 WHAT’S HAPPENING? ......................................................... 7 THE 3 C’S ................................................................................ 10 BEING A GENERATIVE SOURCE ..................................... 12 THE KNIGHT OF FIERY HOPE ......................................... 15 ENERGY HYGIENE .............................................................. 18 BUILDING AN ENERGY HYGIENE FIRST AID KIT ..... 24 SUBTLE ACTIVISM .............................................................. 42 VIEWS FROM THE BORDERLAND .................................. 49 A MESSAGE FROM A SUBTLE COLLEAGUE ................ 69 TWO BLESSINGS .................................................................. 71 STANDING ACTIVISM ............................................................ 72 CONTINUING THE JOURNEY .......................................... 75 A FINAL NOTE ..................................................................... 76 ABOUT THE PUBLISHER ................................................... 77 Holding Wholeness (In a Challenging World) INTRODUCTION Wildfires, floods, rising sea levels, extreme heat waves, terrorism, mass shootings, political divisiveness and gridlock, trade wars, economic vulnerability, epidemics, cyberattacks: the world seems filled with threats and dangers, change and upheaval, conflict and violence, all amplified and broadcast through the immediacy of television, social media and the Internet. Confronting all this on a purely physical level can be challenging enough, but we are not purely physical people, nor is the world a purely physical place. We all—people, animals, plants, landscapes—share a non- physical or subtle energetic dimension as well. On that level, the events in the world, both good and bad, exist as energetic patterns and waves that can have an impact as well, one that can directly influence our own subtle energetic, mental, emotional, and even physical well-being. This subtle impact can be greater because it is not constrained or lessened by distance. The gunning down of innocent worshippers in a mosque in New Zealand, for instance, sends energetic shockwaves throughout the collective energy field of humanity, which can be felt by sensitive individuals on the other side of the world. Further, the suggestive influence of such shockwaves can be picked up and embodied by individuals anywhere on earth who are predisposed to such violence and the ideas and emotions behind them. Resonance to these shockwaves can elicit compassionate acts from those attuned to compassion and the wellbeing of their community or, sadly, can elicit similar violent acts from those attuned to fear, hatred, and images of separation and conflict. The bullets fired by a crazed gunman only travel a distance measured in feet; the hatred generated by that gunman’s subtle energy field of thought and emotion can travel around the world. So can the energies of love. The reality of our time—of all times—is that we inhabit an energetic world ruled by principles of resonance, connectedness, and entanglement as well as a physical world ruled by the familiar principles of space and time. We know we have to deal with the latter; we have yet to fully learn that, to create a healthy and whole world, we have to deal with the former as well. The good news is that we are far from helpless in this subtle dimension 1 Holding Wholeness of life. The same laws that allow one person or one group’s hatred and fear to reach far beyond their geographical location and influence equally allow one person or one group’s love and blessings to span the globe as well. And since the latter is more directly in harmony with the principles of coherency and wholeness—call them the principles of love—that underlie the subtle structure of the world, it can have a far greater and more long lasting impact than can the energies of hatred, no matter how it appears on the surface of things. The fact is that each of us is like a power station of subtle energy; we are each a generative source, capable of contributing mightily to the wellbeing and evolution of the world. Learning how to stand in this identity and become powerful sources of wholeness is what Incarnational Spirituality is all about. It affirms our ability to live and act successfully in both domains of life, the physical and the subtle, working in partnership and symbiosis. There are three elements to this, like the proverbial three-legged stool. The first is learning how to protect ourselves from the toxic and broken energies in the subtle environment. In Incarnational Spirituality, this is called “energy hygiene.” The second is learning how to stand in our unique incarnate identity and generative power. We call this “Standing in Sovereignty and Self-Light.” The third is learning how to connect with the world to be an active, positive, contributing force for wholeness, particularly within the subtle dimension. We call this “subtle activism” or “energy tending.” I’ve written a number of books dealing with all three of these elements of Incarnational Spirituality, but over the last ten years in particular, I’ve written smaller articles and essays addressing how we can deal with unwanted and distressful subtle energies and how we can add our own subtle energies in positive blessing to our world. Most of these have been written in response to questions asked in classes or through emails and letters from people asking what they can do to deal with what is happening in the world. People don’t want to just be victims or suffer from despair and hopelessness; they want to make a difference. They want to be agents in birthing a better world. The questions keep coming as, unfortunately, so do the disasters that prompt them. It seemed to me that it would serve a purpose to gather in one place all the various documents I’ve written in answer to these 2 (In a Challenging World) questions and the needs they pose. Hence, this anthology. The articles and essays here cover a wide range of material; some assume some prior knowledge or familiarity with Incarnational Spirituality or with my work with the subtle worlds. At the end of this book, I’ve included some references to further sources where you can find more information, if you are interested. But I think the basic message and ideas presented here and their intent are clear. My hope is that you will find within them something that will be helpful, useful, and empowering for you. The basic message is simple: the world is going through a difficult time, AND we have within ourselves the resources not only to survive but to thrive and make a positive difference. Wecan be effective and good subtle energy tenders in a challenging world. 3 Holding Wholeness THE FIRST THREE STEPS When we feel the impact of negative subtle energies, there are three steps we can take immediately as our first response. These steps take the form of answering three questions: What is my situation? What are my resources? What can I do? The nature of subtle energies and of the subtle domain in which they propagate and manifest is that we can be impacted emotionally and mentally by forces that do not arise from anything or anyone in our immediate environment. There are chronic energies of anxiety and fear that percolate through humanity’s subtle field much like smog through the air. We can all experience them no matter where we are, and we can all contribute to them, no matter what is happening. There are also “spikes” of negative subtle energy generated by a specific event somewhere in the world. It could be a mass shooting thousands of miles away, but the energetic impact of it could still hit us, amplified now by the way information is immediately shared around the world through social media and the Internet. It’s not guaranteed we will feel such an impact, but distance is not a barrier to the subtle energies that carry it. This means that if I suddenly feel fearful, angry, depressed, distressed, or threatened, my first step is to ask myself, “What is my immediate situation?” Is there a reason in my environment for me to feel these things? Is something happening around me that could cause an emotional or mental reaction. Is there a physical reality that I must deal with or is this a purely subtle response? This was born home for me one day when I was feeling anxious for no particular reason. A subtle being, obviously responding to my feelings, appeared and asked me, “Is there something in your environment that is threatening you?” I was sitting in my living room at the time in a peaceful and quiet neighborhood. Nothing was threatening me, so I said, “No.” “Then don’t concentrate on the threat you feel but tune into the peace that is actually around you in your environment,” my visitor said. (I tell the whole story of this encounter in the except from my journal, Views from 4 (In a Challenging World) the Borderland, that is included further on in this anthology.) Situational awareness—realizing that nothing was threatening me—allowed me to relax and center myself. It allowed me to attune to peacefulness, rather than becoming fixated on the energy of conflict and anxiety that I was feeling. Often, this is the most important thing we can do. Our tendency is to identify with and personalize subtle energies we experience because in many cases we experience them through our feelings.